Dan McNeil on the Score: ‘Game in fourth quarter’

As his latest absence from CBS Radio sports/talk WSCR AM 670 stretches into its eighth week, the mercurial midday star seems to be preparing for his exit from the Score. So are his bosses.

“We are still talking,” is all Rod Zimmerman, senior vice president and market manager of CBS Radio Chicago, will say for now. Although Zimmerman won’t confirm whether he’s made McNeil his final offer, he expects to have the matter resolved in the next week or so.

In the meantime, conversations already are under way with potential replacements for McNeil as midday co-host alongside Matt Spiegel, according to insiders.

McNeil at first denied he was in a contract holdout after I reported in June that he was demanding a raise from a reported $300,000 to $500,000 a year and a move to afternoon drive. Since then he apparently hasn’t budged despite his bosses’ refusal to concede on either issue. Now he’s telling friends he’s prepared to sit out a year or more.

“I’m sorry I don’t have any real news on my future at the Score,” McNeil told fans on Facebook Thursday. “We’re still talking, but the game is in the fourth quarter. Sincerest thanks to all who’ve expressed they miss me. Hang tight. I’m not done world shakin’ just yet.”